Balabala kidswear China No. 1 children fashion brand opens first store in Singapore

China's best selling fashion apparel brand for children, Balabala, officially launched it's first store in Singapore, at CapitaLand's Plaza Singapura, retailing fashionable trendy quality and functional designs from apparel, fashion accessories, footwear and homeware for babies to youth, boys and girls, to express their individuality and personality.

The 1,000 square feet store is designed in Balabala sunshine yellow theme, showcasing the Spring Summer 2024 Balabala premium collection, Disney collaborations, Holiday season collection and Lunar New Year festive designs.

Renowned for its innovative fashion collaborations and  collections, Balabala held it's Be With You Winter 2021 fashion show at the iconic Great Wall of China where  designer Jason Wu (former Artistic Director for Hugo Boss) and new generation trendy designer Chen Peng showcased their designs with high-tech materials for Balabala children fashion merchandise. 

Upcoming Balabala designer collaborations include Christine Phung (former Dior and Chloe creative director) and independent designer Veeco Zhao.

Winterwear is one of Balabala strongest fashion merchandise, where over 50 million pieces of children’s down coats alone are sold.

In celebration of Balabala 20th Anniversary in 2021, the Balabala X Kris Van Assche was launched where the former Creative Director of Berluti and Dior Homme designed an exclusive collection for sale at Balabala flagship stores, Tmall and 20 premium shops.

For Summer 2023,  the Balabala X Bonton french brand featured a line of technical outerwear that combines  innovations like jade fibers to provide breathability and temperature regulation.

Balabala is the No. 1 children fashion brand in China and Asia, the top 5 brand by market share and is listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2011, operating across 14 countries with over 4,800 stores in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Middle East, Qatar, Dubai, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, providing trendy fashion apparel designs in its Premium Collection, Young Collection, Lab Collection, Holiday collection and designer collaborations for newborns, toddlers, kids and youth.

To celebrate the opening of Balabala’s inaugural store in Singapore, shoppers will enjoy promotions like :-

• Receive a tote bag with any purchase and upon registering as a member

• 10% off one piece and 20% off two or more pieces regular-priced footwear and apparel

• S$10 discount upon net purchase of S$100, and S$30 discount upon net purchase of S$200

• Spend S$59 to get a free plush toy, S$139 to have a free bouncy ball, S$239 to receive free tennis racket set toy; while stocks last

Balabala Singapore store is located at 68, Orchard Road, #04-15/16, Plaza Singapura, Singapore 238839, right next to Dhoby Gaut MRT station. Visit Balabala Singapore online shop for the full range of products available and enjoy complimentary delivery with minimum purchase of $79 .

FILA Collection X The Tanglin Club Christmas 2023 Tennis Tournament

FILA, the iconic Italian sportswear brand founded in 1911, launched the FILA Court Luxe collection, FILA FUSION x TEAM WANG Design - Movement from the East by Jackson Wang and FILA White Line Heritage X Victoria & Albert Museum United Kingdom - Fantastic Journey with Chinese celebrities Yang Mi as brand ambassador and Zhang Yixing fronting the campaign this 2023/2024 season.

This December marks the inaugural partnership for the first ever FILA sponsored Christmas Tennis Tournament at the Tanglin Club, which was founded in 1865 as a significant milestone with the prestigious club, showcasing their illustrious heritage, timeless elegance and sporting legacy.

The front lobby of the Tanglin Club Sports Centre showcased the Tennis philosophy, history, influence and partnership of popular tennis world championship players like Karolina Pliskova, Bjorn Borg,  John Isner and Ashleigh Barty in FILA apparel and accessories. 

The FILA immersive experience with a FILA locker room photowall and curated collection of FILA althletic fashion apparel sportswear, bags, accessories and sports shoes, complete with FILA benches and banners were installed at the 3 storey Tanglin Club Sports Complex on competition day where tennis fanatics were dressed in trendy FILA tennis sportswear and shoes.

A children’s Tennis clinic session, followed by women's and men's matches held at indoor courts and outdoor courts concluded with a best-dressed competition and dinner celebration party on 2 December.

The FILA Court Luxe features green, white and navy blue theme designs and argyle print for a fashionable flair on the court.

Jackson Wang X FILA FUSION with TEAM WANG Design - Movement from the East is inspired by parkour and other sports, the highly anticipated debut of the capsule「DONG」fuses FUSION's hero piece, the new functional yet fashionable apparel with Jackson Wang's sport interests. It was officially launched at FILA FUSION Bugis Junction and FILA Jewel on 5 December 2023, 12pm and the collection is priced from SGD 178 to 288

FILA White Line Heritage X V&A - Fantastic Journey Collection draws inspiration from the nineteenth century British artist William de Morgan creations of ceramic tiles and pottery artworks. The arts-centered collection is fronted by Yang Mi and is priced from SGD 178 to 288.

FILA sportswear apparel and footwear for lifestyle, fitness, tennis and golf for men, women and kids including FILA Court Luxe collection, FILA FUSION x TEAM WANG Design - Movement from the East by Jackson Wang, FILA White Line Heritage X Victoria & Albert Museum, FILA Fusion, FILA Athletics, FILA Golf, FILA Kids are available at FILA Singapore stores, FILA FUSION shops and FILA SG online store.

Anime Festival Asia Singapore Review AFA Concert Comics Games Cosplay Exhibition Stage Programme 2023

Celebrating 15 Years of All Things J-Culture, the Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2023 features the latest anime titles, the best of Japanese entertainment, gaming and popular culture icons. 

A showcase with over 70 local and international exhibitors at Akiba Town, the region’s best creators at Creators' Hub, special Day Stage Line-up, Akiba special showcase and regional talents, concerts, festival highlights like AFA X SACRA Music Fest, Iori Moe AFA 2023 Ambassador, Artists and Cosplay guest appearances with meet and greet, fans sessions, premiere screenings, talk shows, Japan food street and more at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre Level 4 from November 24-26.

Held across Asia since 2008, the AFA is the largest and most-followed J-Culture & Anime Comics Game (ACG) Festival in Southeast Asia. In 2019, AFA Singapore alone attracted over 120,000 attendees and anime enthusiasts excitedly thronging through the doors of Halls 401-406, immersing themselves into all things J-Culture, a showcase of pulsating live performances, dozens of toy art, merchandise booths and stunning-looking cosplayers aplenty. 

AFA Stage Shows & Exhibits 

Besides the ticketed nightly concert event in Hall 406 which featured 20 artistes the likes of Japanese-American singer Nano and instrumental heavy metal band Asterism, fans also got to enjoy vibrant day-long live performances at the Akiba Stage with special showcases from regional artistes like Japanese idol group DEAR KISS and professional cosplayer Hiroto Kuramasu, to the hilariously fun Ultraman Gard Game Live shows.

AFA exhibitors presented their ACG-related products like well-known anime retail shop Hakken, local brand Secretlab showcasing their Demon Slayer gaming chair collection and Hoya, the Number 1 hair colour brand from Japan, displaying a range of colorful hair dyes and bleach.

A total of 125 artists and creators from across the region had their own booths featuring their works of art and craftwork like paintings to printed T-shirts, keychains to stickers. 

One of the most unique exhibitor is anime and manga streaming platform Crunchyroll. Its Jujutsu Kaisen Experience offered fans a very cool mini-IMAX-like viewing within a domed space as they immerse into the world of sorcery and cursed energy based on the hit dark fantasy series.

Over at the Bushiroad Expo section, there were serious TCG (Trading Card Game) tournaments being conducted, as well as anime game demonstrations. There were almost crowd-pleasing WWE-styled matches at the Stardom Wrestling Ring.

Japan Food Street is where anime lovers had their fill of Oishi Japanese Food and Drinks where booths like Mutsu Aomori Food Market, Nissin noodles, Ito en Japanese green tea and the SMU-based Daijoubu cafe to name a few, offered a wide selection of Japanese street food which one could eat on the go or at a secluded corner at the venue.  

Cosplay Haven

What really caught everyone’s eyes though were the professional cosplayers from around the region, all immaculately costumed and made-up whilst sitting pretty in their booths in the Cosplay Hub. 

Fans literally queued round “the block” in order to get their favourite cosplayer the likes of Xiaoyukiko from Singapore and Yuii from Malaysia to autograph purchased photographs and other items.

Last but by no means least, adding much colour to AFA2023 were the hundreds of non-professional cosplayers who turned up to the 3-day festival simply to have fun and in turn created glee and joy for the other attendees upon seeing the effort put in for the costumes and make-up.

From Demon Slayer to Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Sword Art Online to Attack on Titans,  there were many tributes to characters from these anime hits and a host of other popular anime, manga and mobile game characters. Among the most impressive was a Rem the Shingami from Death Note and a Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing.

The Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2023 was held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, level 4, from 24-26 November. The Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2024 will be abuzz with the best and latest of J-Culture Anime, concerts, gaming and entertainment. 

#AFASG23